Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Orchids for Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day and the perfect time to visit E. D. Huntington Orchids + Tropicals.  Last fall my neighborhood garden club took a tour of this local orchid grower and retail shop.  Owner Liz O'Toole started collecting orchids when she lived in Santa Barbara, California and eventually brought her passion back home to San Antonio.


We were quickly taken by bright colors and interesting structures of a variety of orchids.







I didn't try to document the names, just enjoy.






I had fun exploring orchids not in bloom.


Aisles of hanging orchids with so many structured forms.




Official greeter Andy Warhol the rescue dog enjoying the attention.



Other tropicals like a giant Huernia were on display.




Anthuriums



Liz O'Toole, the owner (front and center), sharing her tips for growing orchids and tropicals.


Orchid arrangements in a variety of containers ready for customers to take away.



Iron Cross Begonia looking impressive


Banana-shaped stems called pseudobulbs are used in propagation.


Staghorn Fern fans were in love with this unusual pleated fern which a friend dropped off as a small seedling for Liz to keep.



Another of the impressive Staghorn Ferns on display.


Nicely planted screens on the outside of the greenhouse.



Liz started out as a customer and eventually purchased the business about six years ago.


Open daily from noon-6 p.m. and well worth stopping by if you are in the area just north of the San Antonio airport.

8 comments:

  1. Orchids come in so many interesting incarnations! It looks as though this grower had a broad variety - so much nicer than the narrow range of Phalaeonopsis and Cymbidiums that generally make up the inventory at my local garden centers.

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    1. We can see unusual orchids at our botanical gardens but many of these are available for purchase.

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  2. Nice! I haven't seen an orchid greenhouse like that since I left Florida. I used to love going to the ones in SW Dade county.

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    1. We usually have awesome orchids on display in the tropical house at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

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  3. Happy belated Valentine's day! Lovely orchids but that unusual staghorn fern really grabbed my attention!

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    Replies
    1. So amazing that I circled back several times to look at it.

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  4. That's awesome. What a great Valentine's post! I could spend days viewing orchids. ;-) Thanks for sharing these.

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